On Thursday, a day on which many New Yorkers were squinting in what seemed like the first full sunlight in months, New York Mayor de Blasio announced at Gracie Mansion that he, along with a number of other leading progressives, was putting forward a vision for how to address income inequality. Speaking first, de Blasio said that the group had come together to formulate a template for how best to conquer income inequality, which, he said, is worse today than it was at the height of the Great Depression. “We've got to change the politics of the country to change inequality,” he said. The aim, in his words, is “making sure income inequality is at the forefront of the national discussion.”
De Blasio, the first liberal to lead New York’s City Hall in two decades, said that the progressive group's “vision” will be announced in May, likely in Washington, D.C., and will explicitly parallel the Republican Party's 1994 Contract for America. (...)
María Elena Durazo, the vice president for immigration, civil rights, and diversity for the labor union UNITE HERE said that "one family owns the wealth of 43% of Americans.” “Too many people work too hard for too little.” Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva spoke of his experience as a first generation America. He said he wanted to make sure the door that was open to him would be open to young citizens, poor citizens. The stuff of the very American dream. Heather McGhee, the president of Demos, warned of the “yawning chasm of opportunity.” The lights are dimming on our dream, she said.
